How N.H. Went from Deep Red to Swing State Over the Course of a Few Elections

Ronald Reagan clobbered Jimmy Carter in the 1980 New Hampshire presidential election. Four years later, he did the same to Walter Mondale. So resounding were those thumpings, Carter won just two towns in the state, Mondale five.

Republican supremacy in the state did not start with Reagan, nor did it end with him. But Reagan’s two victories may represent the GOP high-water mark in New Hampshire presidential contests. The question now is: Has Republican support in the state bottomed out, or could it continue to fall in 2016? And what might Donald Trump, this year's unconventional GOP nominee, mean for this trend?

To explore these questions, this analysis uses NHPR’s “ElectionStats” database to look at how all 244 cities and towns in New Hampshire have voted in presidential elections, going back to 1972.